Black Panthers

Black Panther

Black Panther

AKA: T'Challa

Debut:Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #52

T'Challa is the Black Panther, king of Wakanda, one of the most technologically advanced nations on Earth. He is among the top intellects and martial artists of the world, a veteran Avenger, and a member of the Illuminati. Using his powers and abilities, he has pledged his fortune, powers, and life to the service of all mankind.

Anti-Magic: The Ebony Blade, but even without the Ebony Blade at his disposal T'challa still routinely shuts down magical foes.

The Atoner: T'Challa promises to be this when Wakanda is threatened by internal strife in Black Panther (2016). He assures Kwabena Ware that he will honor the memory of Kwabena's brother, whom he failed to save. In general, he feels very bad about his failure to effectively rule his people and protect his homeland from Avengers Vs. X-Men onward.

T'Challa: I honor Kwaku Ware. I will honor him until my last breath, knowing that all of my breaths are but his mercy. I did not save him. May I suffer a thousand torments for this, so long as I suffer them alone and no more Wakandans die. That is my sacred duty. Because this is what I am—a king.

Badass Cape: Gained one in the 90's complete with winged collar, just look at the character image.

Becoming the Mask: His regal, calculating and restrained appearance? It's an act. He notes that it's what is expected and required of him, and he hates doing it, but he has to. He eventually realises that he started fooling himself into thinking this is what he is. He only really lets it down around close friends (Tony Stark and Reed) and Storm.

The Good King: Deconstructed in Black Panther (2016). T'Challa genuinely cares for his people, but many Wakandans, including several Dora Milaje, question the relevancy of the monarchy. In that same series, his efforts to protect his people actually result in harm to his subjects. In one scene, he puts down a miners' riot (secretly inflamed by Zenzi), knocking several miners unconscious in the process. In another scene, he defeats several armed men in Zenzi's cult, only to discover that he has left their wives and children bereft. At the end of "A Nation Under Our Feet", his title as king becomes largely a religious role, as a new democratic Wakandan government forms.

Kwabena Ware: You speak of hope? My hope died when Namor drowned my village. It died against when the Black Order made my brother beg for death. Where were you when your country needed you? Gallavanting with Avengers? Bedding down with the weather witch? And now you threaten me? You accuse me of destroying what you could not bother to defend?

Bulletproof Vest: Wore one of the Panther's vibranium laced suits under his police uniform instead of the standard issue Kevlar vest for a while. He later began impersonating the Black Panther using it, and still has one as White Tiger.

The Bus Came Back: After The Crew, Kasper went AWOL for a good long while despite T'Challa's increasing prominence in the larger Marvel Universe. He only reappeared in 2017's World of Wakanda anthology book, where he's still hustling for a promotion in the NYPD.

Black Panther III

Shuri is the younger sister of T'Challa and most recently, a queen. As such, she is the ruler of Wakanda, an African nation known to be one of the most technologically advanced civilizations on Earth.

Adventures in Comaland: In Black Panther (2016), her body is suspended between life and death. Her spirit wanders in Djalia, the plane of ancient memory. She comes out of it (thanks to T'Challa and Manifold) with some new powers.

Good Is Not Nice: She is defiitely a good person, but she apparently has quite the reputation for not working well, as lampshaded by Spider-Man. It's implied to be the result of her resentment toward her brother.

Heroic Lineage: Only members of the Wakandan royal family can successfully become the Black Panther.

Honour Before Reason: In contrast to her brother who goes out of his way to avert this, it's especially noticeable when she has to deal with Namor.

Remember the New Guy: She didn't exist before Hudlin's run, and after her first appearance, everyone in-universe acts like she's always been part of the franchise, despite how weird some prior stories read knowing of her existence.

The Resenter: Towards T'Challa for a while, though not to nearly the level of Hunter.

However, it was a chip on her shoulder that led to her attitude problem and the Panther God initially rejected her because of that (along with her arrogance.)

Taken for Granite: After her time in Djalia, she develops the ability to turn herself into rock.

The Unfavourite: She felt this way, though she was certainly better off than adoptive big brother Hunter.

Dora Milaje

In General

AKA: The Adorned Ones

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 3, #1

The Adored Ones are the Wakandan all-female personal body guards of the King/Queen. They are highly skilled in the use of various weapons and styles of martial art.

Amazon Brigade: The Dora Milaje is an all-female warrior society that protects the Wakandan king. Every member is a formidable warrior.

Battle Harem: Subverted. In addition to bodyguards, The Dora Milaje also function as wives-in-training to the Black Panther as tradition dictates, but T'Challa considers them daughter-figures rather than love interests.

Kid Sidekick: They are actually all teenagers, though its hard to tell since they look very tall and mature.

La Résistance: In Black Panther (2016), several of the Dora Milaje join the Midnight Angels in their revolution against the king when it becomes clear that he cannot keep order in Wakanda.

Multinational Team: Members of the Dora Milaje are Wakandan women drawn from all regions and tribes of the country.

Nakia

AKA: Malice

Debut:Jungle Action Vol. 3, #8

As a child, Nakia of the Q'Noma Valley marsh tribe was picked by her tribal elders to be a Dora Milaje, and spent three years training before presented to King T'Challa. She was one of the King's concomitants, and quicly became one of his deadliest bodyguards, where she was partnered to and befriended Okoye. At some point, Nakia fell in love with T'Challa.

Unfortunately, her love quickly turned to obsession, and after attempting to kill Monica Lynne out of jealousy was ousted from the Dora Milaje. Allying herself with Eric Killmonger, she took on the villainous persona of Malice to take revenge on her love, T'Challa, and her former sisters for abandoning her.

Cosmic Plaything: Before she became Malice, the girl could not catch a break. Mephisto manipulated T'Challa into kissing her, and this is what sends her off the edge. When he discovers what she'd tried to do to Monica, he makes her leave, and she crashes her transport and is tortured by Achebe.

Evil Counterpart: To every Dora Milaje ever, but especially to Okoye, who is a dutiful member of the Dora Milaje and completely understands her role and why T'Challa keeps her and Nakia around.

Okoye

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 3, #1

Taken from an unknown tribe from Wakanda at the onset of puberty, Okoye was chosen by the Black Panther to serve as one of his Dora Milaje. Okoye stood out from an early stage and eventually became one of his personal aids along with Nakia. She served as T'Challa's chauffeur while Nakia was his personal aid. When Nakia developed romantic feelings for T’challa Okoye tried to reign in her fellow Dora Milaje to no avail.

Later when Kasper Cole became the Black Panther she engaged him at T’Challa’s behest to test his skills. Okoye later showed romantic feelings for Kasper.

Chuck Cunningham Syndrome: After presenting Kasper with the White Tiger uniform, she completely disappears from the comic, despite being set up as a possible love interest.

Cleavage Window: During Kasper's tenure as the Black Panther, her default outfit had this.

Queen Divine Justice

AKA: Ce'Athauna Asira Davin

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 3, #13

A young woman born to the Jabari tribe. Her parents were murdered by anti-Jabari extremists when she was a baby. T'Challa sent her to America for her own safety, where she grew up unaware of her heritage.

Damsel in Distress: Man-Ape kidnaps her so that the Jabari can reclaim their ancestral lands and honor.

Aneka

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 5, #8

A former leader of the Dora Milaje and a formidable warrior.. She is arrested and put on trial after killing a corrupt tribal chieftain. She and Ayo later become the Midnight Angels and start a revolution in Wakanda.

Ayo: The chieftain's outrages upon the girls of his village were known. Yet his lechery was unopposed. Aneka spoke to him as fathers and brothers should have spoken long before. And when she was not heeded, she did as the honor of Wakandan fathers and brothers has always demanded.

Badass Creed: "No One Man", meaning that no one man should rule Wakanda.

Conflicting Loyalty: She served her king faithfully as a leader of the Dora Milaje, but her devotion to the Wakandan people proves stronger than her loyalty to T'Challa. She eventually decides that the king can no longer protect his people and has become irrelevant.

Good Versus Good: Both T'Challa and the Midnight Angels genuinely care about the Wakandan people. However, the Midnight Angels decide that "no one man" should rule Wakanda.

Ayo

Her romantic moments with Aneka show that she can be very sweet off the battlefield.

After she and Aneka slaughter a group of militants, she comforts a freed captive who had been sexually abused by the militants.

Destination Defenestration: When she and Aneka attack a barbaric militant group, one militant refuses to stand down. Ayo hurls him from the window of the group's hideout (a fortress situated at the top of a massive tree), and he falls to his death.

Good Versus Good: Like Aneka, she protects the Wakandan people, but no longer believes that one man should rule the country.

Lesbian Cop: She is Aneka's lover, and previously served as part of the royal guard.

Rescue Arc: She breaks Aneka out of prison and steals the Angel armor suits.

Vigilante Woman: After Ayo breaks her out of prison, the two women become the Midnight Angels, protecting the Wakandan people because the Black Panther cannot.

Wife-Basher Basher: She and Aneka slaughter a group of militants who were kidnapping women and children for use as sex slaves.

Servile Snarker: Was not very supportive of Monica Lynne or Everett Ross, and while he would never openly defy his king's wishes, he made his irritation with them repeatedly know.

Monica Lynne

Monica Lynne

Debut:The Avengers Vol. 1, #73

Monica Lynne was the long time love interest of the Black Panther and became his fiance. The two first met when she saved him from drowning after he had an altercation with Killmonger. The two feel deeply in love, with her being his first and true love

Broken Pedestal: She is completely disillusioned with T'Challa and the romance of dating a superhero and royalty. She has nothing but contempt for it.

Butt-Monkey: While it wasn't really commented on in the early comics, she retrospectively became one of these during Priest's run. And she hates it.

The Scrappy: In-Universe, she is extremely disliked by T'Challa's court and guards because she's American. Even after she stops appearing in the comics they continue to badmouth her.

Princess Zanda

Princess Zanda

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 1, #1

Ruler of the fictional African country of Narobia. A vicious woman wanted in fifteen countries, she was the sometimes-love-interest of T'Challa during the Jack Kirby helmed run of the book. Their relationship was strained upon his subsequent marriage to Storm.

Bulungi: Her nation of Narobia, a stand in for the real African nation of Nairobi.

Dating Catwoman: Her actions often brought her into conflict with Black Panther, leading to this trope, as there was a very clear sexual chemistry between the two. She did not take it well when Black Panther chose Storm over her in the end.

Mayincatec: Despite being from an African nation, she mirrors this in appearance. This is largely thanks to the design work of Jack Kirby, who was very fond of Olmec and Incan design.

Most Common Superpower: She was modestly endowed in her initial appearance. Subsequent artists rectified that.

Everett K. Ross

Debut:Ka-Zar Vol. 4, #17

A U.S. State Department employee, whose job was to escort foreign diplomats on American soil. His world changed forever when he was assigned to T'Challa, the Black Panther. He is the boyfriend of Nikki Adams.

Anachronic Order: Ross is terminally incapable of just telling a story without digression or mixing up the order in which events occurred, which invariably confuses the hell out of whoever he's talking to. Any issue where Ross is the narrator has a habit of feeling like a Tarantino movie. As of the 2018 Black Panther Annual, Ross is still doing it, much to the displeasure of an NYPD detective.

Running Gag: In Ross's narration, whenever he's called upon to describe a superhuman character, he summarizes what he knows about their origin up to a point, then writes the rest off as "and then s/he fell into a vat of Cream of Wheat" and got powers.

Storm

AKA: Ororo Munroe

Debut:Giant-Size X-Men #1

Storm, a.k.a. Ororo Munroe, a weather-controlling mutant and one of the most famous members of the X-Men. She married Black Panther and taken on a new leadership role in Wakanda. The marriage lasted a long time, but came crashing during Avengers vs. X-Men in which Storm reluctantly took the mutants' side and caused Namor to flood Wakanda. This act enraged Black Panther that he, being both King AND High Priest of Wakanda, announced divorce even if Storm defected to the Avengers' side afterwards.

Enemies

Ulysses Klaw

Ulysses Klaw

Debut:Fantastic Four Vol. 1, #53

A physicist working in the field of applied sonics, Professor Ulysses Klaue (Anglicized as Klaw) sought to create a sound transducer that could convert sound waves into physical mass. Needing vibranium to power this invention, Klaw ventured into Wakanda in an attempt to steal the mineral, killing King T'Chaka, but losing his right hand in the process. Replacing his lost limb with a weaponized version of his transducer, Klaw also converted himself into pure sonic energy, making him indestructible.

Moral Myopia: He hates T'Challa for destroying his hand and keeping him from Wakanda's Vibranium, while ignoring the fact that he tried to enslave the Wakandans and casually killed T'Challa's father in front of him.

Psycho for Hire: Generally has no problem working for other villains higher up on the food chain, especially if he can get some upgrades out of the deal. That said, his tolerance for Bad Boss type behavior is usually pretty low.

Those Wacky Nazis: Klaw's father was allied with the Nazis in World War II, and Klaw inherited many of his attitudes.

Mephisto

Debut:Silver Surfer Vol.1, #3

Mephisto is a Marvel Universe character created by writer Stan Lee and artist John Buscema. He first appeared in The Silver Surfer #3 (Dec. 1968). Based on Mephistopheles – a demon character from the Faust legend, who often went by Mephisto as a nickname.

An embodiment of ultimate evil, a powerful Hell Lord and Marvel's most common stand in for Satan. He has antagonized just about every hero (from Ghost Rider to Doctor Strange), but tends to single out those who are especially noble like the Silver Surfer and Thor. As can be expected, many of the traditional tropes associated with Satan are part of him.

Mephisto has come into conflict with the Panther king on a number of occasions. After his initial defeat at the hands of the Panther, Mephisto set himself on destroying all that T'Challa loves and cares for, tearing it down piece by piece (often through the handiwork of his agents on Earth). He has also taken an interest in T'Challa's friend Everett K. Ross, tormenting him both to further his machinations as well as for his own petty amusement.

Man-Ape

AKA: M'Baku

Debut:The Avengers Vol. 1, #62

A disgruntled officer in the Wakandan Royal Militia, M'Baku became dissatisfied with T'Challa's rule and sought to overthrow him. After eating one of Wakanda's mystical white gorillas, and fashioning a suit of armor out of its hide, M'Baku gained the creature's legendary abilities, and proceeded to challenge the Black Panther and his allies.

Always Second Best: The second greatest warrior of Wakanda, always falling just behind T'Challa.

Desecratingthe Dead: In Black Panther (2016), The Midnight Angels and their Dora Milaje allies carve "No one man" on Mandla's dead body. This conveyed the message that they would protect Wakanda from evildoers, since the king could not.

Dirty Coward: Despite his considerable physical advantages over T'Challa, he repeatedly resorts to poison and sneak attacks and has never used Wakanda's tribal challenge to try and legitimately oust his rival.

Erik Killmonger

AKA: N'Jadaka

Debut:Jungle Action Vol. 2, #6

After being exiled from Wakanda, N'Jadaka moved to the United States, and changed his name to Erik Killmonger. After graduating from MIT with a PhD in Engineering, Dr. Killmonger returned to Wakanda as a terrorist, seeking to purge his home country of all perceived Western colonial influences.

Always Someone Better: He's T'Challa's intellectual equal and his physical superior, serving as one of the few people who can regularly best The Black Panther in hand-to-hand combat.

Applied Phlebotinum: He and his minions derive their physical powers from the mutating energies of the Resurrection Altar, which is actually some sort of alien device that landed in Wakanda millennia ago. It can also bring back the dead in limited ways.

Empowered Badass Normal: Already a highly dangerous man, Killmonger was mutated into a killing machine by exposure to the resurrection altar, and then by consumption of a synthetic version T'Challa's herb.

Faux Affably Evil: He's superficially quite courteous to people who seemingly aren't in the way of his vendetta against T'Challa, but as Ross points out, he's actually trying to manipulate people this way and knows full well that he's incredibly intimidating even when he's being polite.

Hoist by His Own Petard: When he finally deposes T'Challa in ritual personal combat and subsequently goes through the Panther ritual, his mutated physique — which allowed him to outmatch T'Challa — reacts very badly to the Panther's sacred herb and puts him in a Convenient Coma.

Hatch-22

AKA: The Six-Million Year Man

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 1, #1

Hatch-22 hailed from an alternate future in which human beings have evolved into nearly unrecognizable forms and live beneath Earth's surface in numbered "hatches." In that future, the "Sixth Era of Man," Hatch-22 apparently battled and destroyed a massive creature with the power to ravage planets.

In the course of a struggle between Princess Zanda and Abner Little of the " Collectors," Hatch-22 was drawn to the present by one of the artifacts known as King Solomon's Frogs, where he did battle with the Black Panther.

Evolutionary Levels: Is a member of the sixth race of men. The previous five all died out in preparation for his species. In another million years, his species too will have died out to make way for the next, more advanced species.

Whole Plot Reference: A borderline case. While his interactions with Black Panther are entirely original material, his origin, appearance and abilities are taken near wholesale from Stapledon's novel.

The Supremacists

The Supremacists

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 2, #1

The Supremacist are a group of six superhuman enforcers that reside in the country of Azania that follow an apartheid policy. This group consist of Captain Blaze, Barricade, White Avenger, Voortrekker, Hungyr and Harrier where they are trained at a strictly classified secret Special Weapons Research Facility in Azania. They use their powers to torture and subjugate the black majority, especially the neighboring kingdom of Wakanda.

Solomon Prey

Solomon Prey

Debut:Black Panther: Panther's Prey #1

A Wakandan ambassador and criminal kingpin, Solomon Prey used his political connections to form a powerful drug trafficking ring with it's headquarters located right in the heart of Wakanda. After traveling to the Valley of the Serpent, he became obsessed with the power present there, as well as it's prehistoric creatures and looked for a means to bend them to his whims. In his obsession, he had his DNA spliced with that of a pterodactyl, increasing his strength and speed and gifting him with a pair of wings and talons, making him a formidable match for Black Panther.

Body Horror: The process that gave him his wings and claws caused his body to grow and tear open, resealing itself as the new limbs formed. The sequence it played very graphically, and his body is covered in blood and raw flesh after the wings grow.

Winged Humanoid: Was given a pair of wings by Dr. Kaza, splicing his DNA with that of a pterodactyl.

Achebe

Achebe

AKA: Reverend Doctor Michael Ibn al-hajj Achebe, PhD

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 3, #3

The man named Achebe is believed to have once been a simple farmer who offered asylum to rebels from a neighboring country. Betrayed by his guests and left for dead, Achebe sold his soul to Mephisto and begins a Roaring Rampage of Revenge. After destroying all traces of his former identity, Achebe began engineering complex plots of social unrest for profit or amusement.

He took in an injured puppy, though it was probably just so he could mug to the media with it, evidenced by the fact that it disappears around the time he goes full loco and unleashes the Prowlers on Wakanda.

Triathlon had the misfortune of getting mixed up in one of his schemes, but Achebe was apparently feeling charitable that day, since he willingly let the young Avenger go without so much as laying a finger on him.

Sanity Slippage: He wasn't particularly stable to start with and only get worse from there.

Serial Killer: Tracked down and killed everybody associated with his wife.

Sinister Minister: Calls himself Reverend Achebe, though his credentials are certainly dubious.

Trademark Favourite Food: Biscuits, one of the first things he does as Prime Minister of Wakanda is to to institute a national biscuit eating day, he's show several times eating them and even offering Captain America biscuits while impersonating T'Challa.

White Wolf

AKA: Hunter

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 3, #4

As a boy, Hunter was adopted by King T'Chaka when his biological parents were killed in a plane crash. As an adult, Hunter became the director of Hatut Zeraze, the Wakandan Secret Service, earning the moniker White Wolf. Exiled when his agency's brutal methods were brought to light, the White Wolf became a mercenary, harboring a considerable grudge against his adoptive brother.

Happily Adopted: Toyed with. White Wolf clearly cared for his adoptive father, T'Chaka, and is head over heels in love with his adopted culture. However, he was never able to overcome the institutionalised xenophobia that characterises Wakanda, was relegated to a behind-the-scenes job by T'Chaka, and is jealous and resentful of his full brother, T'Challa, who does not have to deal with any of these problems.

Off with His Head!: The cover to Black Panther #41 has T'Challa presenting his decapitated head to a crowd of cheering Wakandans in victory. Considering all of the things he had done, the reader can't help but cheer along with them.

Shapeshifter: Like all members of the Skrull race, he is able to change his appearance at will. The Skrull forces use this ability to plant hundreds of their agents within Wakanda in order to destroy it's defenses and infrastructure before starting the main invasion.

The Empath: Her psychic powers allow her to read and amplify the emotions of others (although they need to already be there). In one scene, she brings the anger of frustrated miners to the surface, triggering a riot. In another scene, she brings T'Challa's self-doubt and grief to the surface, weakening him.

T'Challa: My enemy is not a beguiler, but a revealer. She brings out of us all the awful feelings that we have hidden away, and makes them manifest.

Hypocrite: She claims to have the best interest of Wakandans in mind, but she has no problem with tactics that kills innocent Wakandans, such as inciting a miner's riot and sending suicide bombers into the capital. And she's also promised a share of the new Wakanda to any supervillain who is able to kill T'Challa. Which has attracted the attention of the Von Strucker twins.

When Wakandan forces attack Jabari lands that the Midnight Angels and their Dora Milaje allies have occupied, Zenzi uses her empathic abilities to stop the siege. She brings to the surface the soldiers' sorrow and guilt over attacking their Wakandan sisters, stopping them in their tracks and saving the lives of the Midnight Angels.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: She genuinely believes that she is acting in the best interest of the Wakandan people, but her means cause suffering and bloodshed. Riots, suicide bombers, and unsavory alliances are the means by which she seeks to bring about revolution.

Tetu

Tetu

Debut:Black Panther Vol. 6, #1

A former student of Changamire at Hekima Shule. Seeking knowledge beyond the physical realm, Tetu abandoned his schooling and ventured into the wilderness. He returned as a shaman, with the ability to manipulate the forces of nature. Seeking to use his newfound abilities to bring an end to the strong exploiting the weak and to create a "Wakanda for Wakandans", Tetu founded The People in a bid to bring about "the end of kings." With financial and technological backing from Zeke Stane, Zenzi initiates a campaign to overthrow the Wakandan monarchy.

Tetu warns Black Panther that "worms of the earth" will devour him. This may be a reference to the 1939 short story "Worms of the Earth", in which a Pictish king summons evil chthonic beings to defeat the Roman governor oppressing his people. Like Bran Mak Morn in "Worms of the Earth", Zenzi and Tetu have called upon evil forces (Stane, the Von Strucker twins, terrorists) to aid their revolution.

Well-Intentioned Extremist: He works alongside Zenzi to undermine the king because he genuinely wants Wakanda to be a just, egalitarian nation.

Tetu: I wanted a new country, a country that respected all of us equally, and respected the earth from which we all hail, and the earth to which we all shall return.

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